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Advanced Interactive Media Group LLC

Peter M. Zollman, founding principal 402 Spring Valley Road, Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714 407-788-2780 / 866-611-6551 (fax) pzollman@aimgroup.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE More information: Mark A. Whittaker, AIM Group senior consultant Phone: 724-553-8428

Online prostitution-ad revenue sets record in April

Online prostitution-advertising revenue totaled $3.3 million on five U.S. websites in April, setting a monthly record as the highest total since Craigslist closed its adult services section almost two years ago. Aprils total was 3.2 percent higher than March, 12.6 percent higher than April 2011 and 1.3 percent higher than January 2012, the previous record month. Nearly 80 percent of the April total can be attributed to Backpage.com, which generated $2.6 million from the sale of online ads for escort services and body rubs in 23 U.S. cities, according to estimates by the AIM Group. Other notable statistics for April: The number of listings for prostitutes, escorts and body rubs on seven tracked sites increased to 271,279, up 3.5 percent from March and up 38.1 percent from April 2011. A site called MyRedbook.com, which publishes reviews of prostitutes along with ads, led all sites with 112,328 listings. There were a total of 6.1 million unique visits to 26 tracked sites that publish prostitution listings, based on data from Compete.com. That equals the record set in March and is 15.7 percent higher than in April 2011.

During the last 12 months, five tracked sites have generated at least $37.2 million from online ads for escorts and body rubs, which are common euphemisms for prostitution. Of that, $27.4 million was attributed to Backpage.com, a general classifieds site owned by Village Voice Media. When Craigslist closed its adult services section, the AIM Group had estimated it was generating about $3.7 million a month from the ads, an annual rate of $44.6 million. Thats $7.2 million more than what has been generated in the last 12 months by the remaining publishers of online prostitution ads.

In terms of revenue, Backpage.com is the leading U.S. site for prostitution advertising, a position it assumed in October 2010 after Craigslist stopped publishing ads for adult services such as escorts and body rubs. Craigslist pulled adult services ads because of pressure from law enforcement officials and anti-sex-trafficking groups who complained the ads promoted both prostitution and sex slavery involving girls under 18. Backpage is the online classified site for Village Voice Medias 13 alternative weekly newspapers and a number of other publications around the U.S., mostly alternative weeklies. VVM, which is also facing pressure from law enforcement officials, anti-trafficking groups and clergy, has changed the adult advertising sections of Backpage but continues to carry paid ads for escort services and body rubs. In March, the State of Washington passed a law requiring websites that operate within the state to obtain documentation that advertised escorts are at least 18 years old. Other states, including Connecticut, are considering similar legislation. The New York City Council this month passed a resolution urging VVM to eliminate adult ads on Backpage. The U.S. Communications Decency Act protects publishers of online advertising posted directly by advertisers if the ads have not been reviewed before they appear online even if they promote prostitution or include illegal references to discrimination in housing, for example. Village Voice Media also publishes escort advertising in its print publications, but the AIM Group revenue estimates include only online advertising in 23 of the 394 markets where Backpage.com offers localized sites in the U.S. Thus, its estimates of the companys revenue from prostitution ads are extremely conservative. (VVM also offers Backpage sites in Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., the Caribbean and Mexico.) In April, there were 3.5 million unique visits to Backpage.com, according to Compete.com. Thats 5.1 percent more than March, and 15 percent more than April 2011. There were 102,130 listings for escorts and body rubs in April, up 3.2 percent from the previous month and 5.2 percent from the same month last year. Here are the trends in revenue, listings and unique visitors at Backpage.com over the last year:

Backpage monthly revenue

$3,000,000.00 $2,500,000.00 $2,000,000.00 $1,500,000.00 $1,000,000.00 $500,000.00 $0.00 April 2011 May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March 2012 April

from escort and body rub lis8ngs in 23 of 394 U.S. markets April 2011 to April 2012

Backpage monthly escort and body rub lis8ngs

in 23 of 394 U.S. markets April 2011 to April 2012

110,000 105,000 100,000 95,000 90,000 85,000 April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April 2011 2012

Backpage unique visitors

April 2011 to April 2012 according to Compete.com

4000000 3500000 3000000 2500000 2000000 1500000 1000000 500000 0 April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April 2011 2012

The following chart shows the change in unique visitors to sites that advertise escorts since February 2011. (The AIM Group started by counting unique visits to 26 sites. Three sites have closed, and weve added four others to the count.)

Unique visitors to 26 sites that adver8se escorts

April 2011 to April 2012 according to Compete.com
6200000 6000000 5800000 5600000 5400000 5200000 5000000 4800000 Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March Apr. 2011 2012

The AIM Group, an interactive-media consultancy based in Altamonte Springs, Fla., has been tracking prostitution advertising since August 2010. The AIM Group counts the number of Backpage ads for female escorts and body rubs in 23 U.S. cities over a 30-day period. Revenue is estimated by multiplying the number of ads by the advertising rates in each city, plus an assumed additional charge to republish the ads four times.

The research does not count ads published outside the primary cities, so revenue has been substantially underestimated. The AIM Group has also tracked revenue for four other sites that sell prostitution advertising Eros.com, CityVibe.com, MyRedbook.com and AdultSearch.com. (Escorts.com was tracked until it closed June 1, 2011.) Here is the estimated monthly revenue from the last 12 months May 2011 through April 2012 -- at sites that sell prostitution advertising or listings:
Estimated monthly prostitution advertising revenue (in 1000s) Site Backpage.com Eros.com CityVibe.com MyRedbook.com Escorts.com AdultSearch.com Total May $1,977 $437 $394 $16 $4 $94 $2,920 June $1,948 $452 $416 $16 $0 $110 $2,942 July $2,099 $470 $479 $16 $0 $124 $3,188 Aug. $2,080 $425 $439 $16 $0 $76 $3,036 Sept. $2,062 $453 $348 $16 $0 $70 $2,949 Oct. $2,141 $521 $363 $18 $0 $66 $3,111 Nov. $2,108 $485 $346 $17 $0 $59 $3,016 Dec. $2,647 $413 $95 $17 $0 $36 $3,208 Jan. 2012 $2,597 $500 $110 $16 $0 $29 $3,252 Feb. $2,499 $480 $107 $16 $27 $3,129 March $2,567 $461 $90 $18 $55 $3,191 April $2,631 $503 $95 $18 $0 $47 $3,294

The consulting group also tracks the number of unique visitors to 26 sites that promote prostitution either with listings or by allowing reviews of prostitution services. Here are the April unique visitors to the top 10 most-visited sites, according to Compete.com:
Top 10 Backpage AdultSearch.com Eros/Eros Guide TheEroticReview.com MyRedbook.com NaughtyReviews.com CityVibe.com MyProviderGuide.com SexyEscortAds.com TNABoard.com Unique Visitors 3,537,029 476,609 317,061 279,682 269,538 220,592 196,384 116,898 109,014 94,135 Change 5.1% -36.1% 20.6% -5.8% -6.5% -5.6% -7.0% -5.4% 4.9% 6.5%

Although Eros.com and Eros-Guide.com are separate URLs, they both resolve to the same website, and the unique visitors for each have been combined. The AIM Group tracked prostitution ads and, where possible, calculated the revenue they generate in these 23 cities: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Dallas / Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Fla., Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Sarasota, Fla., Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington, D.C.

Overall, the AIM Group studies 26 websites that either sell listings or promote prostitution in other ways. Of those 26, we are able to compute revenue based on the number of listings and published advertising rates for six Backpage.com, Eros.com, CityVible.com, MyRedbook.com, Escorts.com (which closed June 1, 2011) and AdultSearch.com. We can also count listings on three additional sites NaughtyReviews.com, Eccie.com, and A1List.net (which stopped publishing ads in July). We count 30-day listings where possible. Because MyRedBook.com displays just 500 ads at a time, we use numbers published on the site as our count. For the remaining 17, we track only unique visitors because the other data is not publicly available or because the sites have so little traffic that their revenues or listings would be insignificant. Those sites are TheEroticReview.com, Sipsap.com, Preferred411.com, SexyEscortAds.com, BigDoggie.net, LocalEscortPages.com, HotLocalEscorts.com, MyProviderGuide.com, TNABoard.com, FindHotEscorts.com, EscortGuide.com, Escortme.com, USASexGuide.com, EscortContact.info, FemaleCompanions.com, DrDwg.com, and BarebackEscorts.com. The unique-visitors metric counts a user a computer or IP address only once no matter how many times the site is visited from that same location. It does not account for more than one person using the same computer, or one person visiting the same site from two or more different computers (one at work and one at home, for example). --About the AIM Group: The AIM Group, formally known as the Advanced Interactive Media Group LLC, is the worlds leading consultancy in interactive media and classified advertising. It publishes Classified Intelligence Report, a continuous advisory service often called the bible of the classified advertising industry. The AIM Group works with leading media companies, broadcasters, dot-coms, yellow-page publishers and technology companies. It provides strategic and tactical consulting; sales training; proprietary and published research about interactive media, and other services. Founded in 1998, it is based in Altamonte Springs, Fla. For more information call (407) 788-2780 or see http://AIMGroup.com. This monthly update report has been funded by a foundation that has asked not to be identified. The AIM Groups most recent report about Craigslist and free classified advertising sites is available through AIMGroup.com. Note: Mark A. Whittaker, senior consultant for the AIM Group, and Peter M. Zollman, founding principal of the AIM Group, are available for comment on the research. Whittaker is available at 724-553-8428 or markw@aimgroup.com; Zollman is available at 407-788-2780 or peterz@aimgroup.com.